an awesome concert

In recent years I have been to more EDM-type concerts than I ever guessed I would.  Oh, like many, I've enjoyed plenty of music with a beat.  But Van has exposed me to ever more, and it's been quite a ride.  Sets at Coachella, a weekend at The Gorge, a day at Red Rocks, and more.  Fun times.

But sometimes I yearn a little for a guitar or some other live instrument.  Sorry, but true.

A DJ duo called Odesza did a two-night gig in Los Angeles this past weekend, and it was no small venue for them.  They were playing at BMO Stadium, and by the time the headliners came on, the stands and the floor were pretty full.  Thousands of impossibly trim, stylish, younger folks bopping like mad. 

I'm such an old, fat troll.

Ha!  Kidding.  Sort of.  Who cares?  I had on a Jimbo baloney ghost tshirt

that got a compliment as I passed through security at the entrance, and Van and I settled into place to enjoy the next handful of hours. 

The stadium was not yet full, but it would be.

We missed the first act, Golden Features.  My apologies to them, but we did not know who they were, so we're not sure how much we missed out on.  Instead, we caught DRAMA's full set.  No, I don't know them either, but the singer was pretty great.

Bob Moses came before the headliners,

and I knew them for a few songs at least.  A Canadian act, so bonus points for that.  They had live instrumentalists with them (who was that drummer - what a magnificent mane of hair!), and their sound was harder, more rock than I would have guessed.  And that really made me wonder about how they fit with the DJ set that was to come.  How foolish I was to think that.

I don't know Odesza well at all.  I know I had heard a song or two, but I couldn't name one or sing along to the chorus at all.  So my assumptions were simply DJ EDM and nothing more.  That was blown out of the water during the opening number, which, as it proceeded, had a string ensemble and a drum corps out on stage. 

All of whom came back at multiple points along with four different live singers, a trombonist, a trumpeter, a bass player, and more.  Oh, the guys DJed, for sure.  But there was a lot of live performance mixed into what we saw and heard, and it was exhilarating in so many spots.  It also threatened to lapse into a Blue Man Group set, perhaps, but nah, it was fun.

I've been listening to some Odesza and Bob Moses this morning, and I'm smiling.  Van and I made it home by midnight, glad that we had had the chance to enjoy that show.

Montana escape, day 2

Last Monday Van and I were up early.  And if you know Van at least a little from this blog, you'll know that early is not something he relishes.  Nonetheless, there we were, getting up well in time to meet our guide.  It wasn't even fully light out when we woke up, though the valley and mountains around the resort still looked good.

It promised to be a cool, damp day for us to travel down into and about Yellowstone National Park, and it was true to its word.  We got our lunch from the hotel cafe to take along, and Nate met us out front.  Within an hour or so, we were inside the west gates of the park.  Actually, we had already passed through part of the park - some of the drive south took us through the western edge that bled into Montana.

Nate was an awesome guide.  Let me establish that right away.  He was so knowledgeable and very easy to talk with.  He asked what we wanted to see, and we told him we trusted him to show us the things he thought we should see.  And that was a good decision.  I mean, Van and I both agree that we would have stopped the very first time we saw bison and taken photos.  Nate bypassed that little traffic snarl and told us that we would have many more opportunities to see bison, and right along us on the road at that.  He was right.

What else was he right about?  Hmmm...  How about

• Taking us to see harlequin ducks, which, unlike most other ducks, are found on or near rapids.  Beautiful birds.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Finding wolves.  When we told people at the hotel and elsewhere that we had seen wolves thanks to Nate's keen eye and telescope, they were blown away.  A rare thing.
  
  
  
• Seeing Old Faithful, as is almost obligatory,
  
  
  
  
  
  but then taking us to Cliff Geyser and the surrounding pools and vents for something more interesting
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  (Old Faithful may be faithful, but it wasn't especially impressive).
• Stopping at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone (yes, that's the actual name and how it is written), which was had an impressive waterfall and gorge.
  
  
  
• Driving out of the way a little to see if we could spot a bear.  No luck, but hey, look at that cute marmot. 
  
  
  
  
  
  And hey, look at that great vista of Yellowstone Lake. 
  
  
  And curse you, weather - just imagine how this would have looked if we could have better seen the mountains in the distance.
• Getting up early to go.  Old Faithful was busy, but everywhere else was not crowded, and we managed to see a lot without having to endure lines and throngs.

Other stops and highlights included seeing the Old Faithful Inn, a gorgeous old national parks lodge that, based on the tourist traffic inside (including us, eating lunch there in a common area and then buying souvenirs) we were heartily glad we didn't stay at. 

There were also the Gibbon Falls, another handsome park formation. 

He pointed out a forest that was killed by the flooding of chemically toxic water from the geothermal action. 

He drove us past yet more bison, this time with calves in tow.

We were back at the hotel around about 4:00 that day.  We unwound, and then headed to the hotel bar for a nice dinner, sitting in the window.  A very successful Monday of our escape, and we both slept well that night, indeed!

Friday in

One night together alone.  That's all Conrad and I were getting in between trips.  Van and I got back on Thursday in time for all of us to have pizza.  Tonight Van and I are off to see Odesza in concert.  Conrad heads to Chicago tomorrow morning.  So last night was it for us.

I think we did a good job of making the most of it.

Mid-afternoon we headed to Bristol Farms to pick up some groceries.  I got us an assortment of seafood, mostly shellfish, and a few other things.  Once back home, I set to work on making a pumpkin seed sauce in the style of a pipian, seared some wedges of pattypan squash, and made a little fresh corn salsa.  I cooked the seafood directly in the sauce, then distributed it and the squash along with the sauce into two bowls.  I garnished each with some corn salsa.  Dinner!

Oh, and Last Words.  You know us!

A nice evening, smiles all around.  We added on some wine, and that was a little indulgent, I would admit.  We ended up sleeping a little later this morning, but we went for a nice little walk and our usual Amara breakfast. 

Hooray!

And now it's almost a week apart for us.  The summer travel is kicking into gear.  Here's to a lovely summer ahead!